Steroids

He once was a humble cyclist with a reputation for grit, whether riding with broken bones so painful that he ground 11 of his teeth to nubs or crying openly during the 2004 Tour de France when his beloved dog and constant companion Tugboat had to be put down. On Friday, Tyler Hamilton, 38, announced his retirement from cycling after failing a doping test for the second time in his career that included a dramatic stage win at the 2003 Tour de France and a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

First things first: I am not in favor of athletes doping with steroids. I am also not in favor of junk science, junkier legal procedure or, junkiest of all, emotion and hysteria driving intelligent thought out of the debate over performance enhancement in sports. Yet these are the central components of our national anti-doping policy. All of them are featured in the latest doping "scandal," the case of New York Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez.

The U.S. District Court judge who will preside over Barry Bonds' perjury trial next month said Thursday her "preliminary thoughts" were to exclude evidence that Bonds tested positive for steroids three times in the months before his record-breaking 73-homer season of 2001.

Roger Clemens dismissed claims that his former strength coach repeatedly injected him with steroids and human growth hormone as "hogwash" and said such a series of injections would have left him so strong that "I should have a third ear coming out of my forehead and I should be pulling tractors with my teeth."

It would have been fun to hear Rich "Goose" Gossage tell stories about the craziness of his years with the New York Yankees, when George Steinbrenner was firing Billy Martin every other day and Reggie Jackson was the straw that stirred a very strange brew in the clubhouse. It would have been entertaining, after Gossage shook off the daze of his overdue election to baseball's Hall of Fame, if he had explained his motivation for adopting a bushy mustache and intimidating demeanor on the mound.

If you look for pictures of Marion Jones, you will find one in track garb from the cover of Time magazine, another in a slinky gown from the cover of Vogue and another with the milk mustache A-list celebrities wear in the "Got milk" advertising campaign. Among those in the milk ads have been magician David Copperfield, action film hero Jackie Chan, "Sex and the City" star Kim Cattrall, talk show host Conan O'Brien, singer Beyonce, supermodel Tyra Banks and baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken.

On the eve of testifying before Congress about baseball's steroid era and subsequent reforms, Commissioner Bud Selig said Monday he would not pledge to outsource baseball's drug-testing program to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency or any other third party. "I'm satisfied with the way it is now," Selig said. Selig said he remains committed to implementing all the reforms recommended in last month's report by former Sen.

As Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, baseball's Capitol Hill Gang, confront another drug drilling from a congressional committee today, there is the background ticking of a contractual and chronological clock. Inevitably -- and sooner rather than later in the context of time already served -- these C-SPAN reruns will feature new and younger leaders at baseball's helm. Is that day imminent?

WASHINGTON -- A congressional committee exploring baseball's steroids scandal asked the Justice Department on Tuesday to investigate whether shortstop Miguel Tejada lied in denying he used performance-enhancing drugs as lawmakers ratcheted up pressure on Major League Baseball to clean up its act or face possible legislative action.

As Commissioner Bud Selig made it abundantly clear that he has no intention of letting an independent agency run baseball's drug-testing program, the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency criticized Selig and players' union chief Donald Fehr on Wednesday for "essentially thumbing their nose at those who care about the integrity of the game."